Sunday, November 23, 2008

Where We're Headed - We're Not Headed There If I Can Help It

By Robert A. Waters April 7, 2003

You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door. Half awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way.

With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun. You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it. In the darkness, you make out two shadows. One holds something that looks like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire. The blast knocks both thugs to the floor.

One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches outside. As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in trouble. In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless. Yours was never registered.

Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died. They arrest you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm. When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities will probably plea the case down to manslaughter. "What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask. "Only ten-to-twelve years," he replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave yourself, and you'll be out in seven."

The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper. Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you shot are represented as choir boys. Their friends and relatives can't find an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous times. But the next day's headline says it all: "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't Deserve to Die." The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters.

As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it up, then the international media. The surviving burglar has become a folk hero.

Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll probably win. The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects. After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time.

The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced, as your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your anger at the injustice of it all works against you. Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't take long for the jury to convict you of all charges.

The judge sentences you to life in prison.

This case really happened.

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England, killed one burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now serving a life term.

How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great British Empire?
It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license.


The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns.

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he saw. When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.
The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)


Nine years later, at Dunblane, Scotland, Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable, or worse, criminals.

Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms still owned by private citizens. During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.

Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands." All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities. Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply. Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens. How did the authorities know who had handguns?

The guns had been registered and licensed. Kinda like cars.

Sound familiar?

WAKE UP AMERICA, THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION.

"..It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.." --Samuel Adams

© 2003 Robert A. Waters - All Rights Reserve

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I received permission from the author to publish this here in my blog. An amazing story. Of course there is another side to it that you can read at Wikipedia wherein it is claimed that the home owner shot the thugs as they tried to flee. Heck that would be legal in Texas wouldn't it? Regardless I think the whole atmosphere surrounding firearms, heck any arms, in England is ridiculous; and their attitude about someone trying to act in self defense is terrible; and besides that their police are a sham. Don't let it happen here, even with an all lib power surge in the House, the Senate and the oval office. Fight for your rights.

By the way, the author's current website is: http://www.robertwaters.net

His blog can be found at: http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com

I may have to start visiting there with virtual regularity.

All the best,
Glenn B

Emails Away

I sent an email to StreamLight asking if they would consider being generous to allow me to purchase some flashlights directly from them at a discount for inclusion in the care packages.

I also sent an email to E.A.R Inc, the make of the E.A.R. Taper Fit 2 foam ear plugs that Jamie V and his unit appreciated so much in a previous package I sent them. I am hopeful that E.A.R. Inc. will sell me a box of 200 pairs at a good discount for inclusion in the package. These earplugs are great for the range as stand alone ear protection or as additional ear protection under a set of shooter's ear muffs. I also use them to help me sleep when in a noisy location. They are soft enough to remain comfortable for long periods. I imagine that Jamie and his unit - being an artillery unit - can find good use for them.

A third email also went to PayPal to ask them to waive their fee for when I receive any money as a donation toward this effort. If not, I'll cover it out of my own pocket so all your money goes toward purchase of items for the packages.

All the best,
Glenn B

Soldiers' Holiday Care Package - aother update

I have got to hand it to you folks - you are generous. I started this up this morning, and I already have collected $175 in donations (including my own) from only 6 folks; and I have a promise for 2 more donations. Wow that is great.

Since I started this thing late it is nice to see that those of you to whom I sent out the emails asking for donations are wasting no time getting them to me. I am not wasting time either. Today I had to stop at Costco for some stuff for home. I got there pretty late, they usually close at 4 on Sundays, and I arrived at 3:30. It was mobbed anyway; then I found out why - because they were staying open until 6 today. I figured while I was there I may as well start shopping for the care packages for the troops.

So far, besides the cigars I ordered online earlier from Thompson Cigar, I picked up the following at Costco:

A big box of Tootsie Roll Pops

A box of 12 decks of Bicycle brand playing cards.

A 10 pack of ChapSticks.

A 5 pack of Gillette Deodorant.

I just pretty much grabbed some things that caught my eye that I figured our guys and gals could use. Tonight I'll probably order a large box of ear plugs. I sent some of them in the first package I sent a few weeks back, and Jaime V. told me they were a very appreciated item. I guess they come in handy for sleeping, and probably also come in handy because Jaime and his buddies are in an artillery unit if I recall correctly.

Like last year I will check into getting them some higher end items like nice pocket knives, and maybe some nice compact high intensity flashlights. I don't figure we will be as lucky as last year to have Streamlight donate another dozen flashlights and extra batteries but you can bet I'll ask them. Even if they do not donate them outright as they did a year ago, maybe they will give a good discount on them.

For now I have some online shopping to do since time is short and the money is there to spend for these care packages.

All the best,
Glenn B

Soldiers' Holiday Care Package - update

I don't know a whole hell of a lot about cigars, but I am considering this deal for a purchase toward the Soldiers' Holiday Care Packages. It has a variety of hand rolled cigars, light, medium and dark wrappers in different sizes, and comes with a carrying case. That case might be just the thing to keep them safe in a war zone, but something tells me once the care package is opened and these are seen inside, there will be lots of aromatic smoke in the air pronto and no cigars left to protect.

http://www.thompsoncigar.com/default.aspx?page=product&sender=csearch&uid=2680

Powerhouse 25 Sampler Case, Set

Contains:


5 CHAVON

5 EROS ROBUSTO

5 DONA INES

5 MIRAFLOR

5 BELMONDO VIN RES

1 TRAVEL CASE

(Edited to Add: Well within the first hour, I received 2 $25.00 donations, plus my own $25, so I have placed this order, and have money left over for more good things. The cigars will be sent out quickly after I receive them to make sure they are fresh when they get there.)

All the best,
Glenn B

The Donations Are Already Coming In...

...and not more than 1 minute after I posted the notice about collecting for the Soldiers' Holiday Care Package and posting the PayPal icon, I received the first donation from Al S. I have to hand it to him too because it was a generous one. Thanks Al.

All the best,
Glenn B